Gesar

Dharma College is the most recent addition to the Nyingma mandala. About a year after TNMC acquired two substantial properties in downtown Berkeley, a third building, known as Armstrong College, became available next door. If TNMC could acquire this building, it would own a half-city block in the middle of downtown Berkeley, opening unprecedented opportunities. We were able to acquire the property late in 2009, and after substantial renovations, a formal opening was held in 2011. Dharma College began offering instruction in 2012. The Director of Dharma College has described the mission and activities of Dharma College as follows:

“Dharma College has as its purpose to introduce a new way of understanding the human mind—not ‘Buddhism’, yet not not Buddhism; a way that is gentle, yet cuts like a knife through confusion; a way that is open, yet carefully guided; a way that is not philosophy, yet is logical and clear; that is not psychology, yet is personally transformative; that is not scientific, yet is observable and verifiable.  All of these purposes relate directly to introducing the extraordinary new teachings embodied in Tarthang Tulku’s, Revelations of Mind, published in 2013.

“We carry out this mission primarily through classes for the general public, usually six weeks long and organized into a two-year curriculum. This past year we taught 34 weekly courses, eight weekend workshops, and our first retreat, held in late April at Ratna Ling. The total combined enrollment for our courses was 238. We had an additional 100 enrollments for the workshops and retreat.

“Who are our students? An architect. A retired legal mediator (and former priest). A consultant to the tech industry. A life coach. A weaver. A poet. A food blogger. An executive assistant. A web designer and several graphic designers. A retired computer scientist, born in China and educated at MIT, who suffers from amnesia due to encephalitis and finds that these teachings calm her anxiety and allow her to understand her mind as it is now, without mourning for the way it used to be. A young woman studying jazz. Lawyers and retired lawyers, one of whom lives in the Sacramento delta area and makes the trip two or three times a week to take classes and to volunteer. In the last year, our students have also included therapists, bookkeepers, a former high school French teacher, a former teacher of deaf children, a college English professor, and many others. Our youngest students are in their early twenties. The oldest are in their eighties. We have also been offering a weekly class at Rossmoor—a senior community in Walnut Creek—since last March, after a talk we gave there this past winter drew more than ninety audience members.

“Dharma College is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Berkeley. But old buildings need to be carefully maintained and frequently upgraded. This past year, we constructed and then furnished a new residential area, which can house up to four people in three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We have had volunteers living in the space since last fall, which keeps the building occupied and helps to protect the premises throughout the week.

“Another building project this past year was to fix the 90-year old Spanish tile roof. Hundreds of the old tiles were cracked and the underlying membrane had disintegrated. Workmen told us that some of the tiles were stamped with the date 1911! The roof project was completed successfully before the winter rains.

“Our lower level holds a huge boiler that, until this year, was our sole source of heat. Old, inefficient radiators took more than an hour to warm up and the boiler made so much noise we could not keep it on when classes were in session. In late fall of 2013, the boiler became unsafe to operate; rather than refurbish, we replaced it with three furnaces and a new forced air heating system. After a freezing November and December, our classrooms and offices were cozy and warm in January.

“In the months ahead we have a full agenda. In addition to offering six-week courses and workshops in Summer, Early Fall and Late Fall terms, we will be working with a small creative design firm to develop new ways to communicate our unique mission and to design a visual look that differentiates us from other schools and from traditional Dharma centers. In today’s world, our students meet us on the web before they meet us; they judge us before we’ve even shaken hands. Just as our architectural space must feel like a serious center for learning, and yet also be warm and welcoming, so too our ‘cyberspaces’ must convey this same message through language and image. We hope to launch our new look in January 2015.

“What else is in store? Teachers from the Nyingma International Centers will study Revelations of Mind during their summer retreat at Ratna Ling and will make plans for introducing these teachings in their own countries. In Berkeley, our challenge will be to attract new students while we continue to deepen the inquiry into mind begun by our current students. We need to expand to maintain our facility, fund our publicity, and begin to make a financial contribution to the ongoing projects of TNMC and the Head Lama.”